Understanding True Authority

Luke 7:1-10

¹After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. ²Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal [heal is actually “save” in the Greek] his servant. ⁴And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” ⁶And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Today we get to meet a most interesting person – The Roman Centurion. Here we find a man who has come to believe that the God of Jews is real and he is a worshiper. He is so taken with Yahweh that he has actually used his own money to build a synagogue for the people. Now his servant (slave) is going to die and because of his interest in Judaism he has heard of Jesus and the miracles that He has worked. Of course He would appeal to Jesus to save his slave.

What is really striking about this story is that the leaders of the synagogue are the ones who come to Jesus on the centurion’s behalf. Clearly the centurion has influence (which I suppose one could say he has purchased) over these leaders for they are glowing in their praise of him and his worthiness. Jesus isn’t taken in by their praise though. He has not been purchased. But He is struck by the man’s understanding of authority and specifically Jesus’ authority. The centurion has rightly discerned Jesus’ position. It must have been a little galling for the Jewish leaders and crowd to hear Jesus praise the centurion’s faith as greater than their own.

 

This story is interesting because it also has some archaeological backing.

The centurion and Jesus are the major participants in the story, with Jewish elders as intermediaries and the slave as the object of healing. A Roman centurion was in charge of a hundred soldiers, and there were sixty centurions in a legion. Centurions were career soldiers responsible for the discipline and administration of those under their authority. They were well paid and their position in Roman society was held in high regard. The centurion in this miracle has slaves and is wealthy enough to build a synagogue. His association with the synagogue might classify him as a God-fearer, a Gentile who was attracted to the teaching and worship life of the Jews without formally converting to Judaism. Archaeologists patiently digging from 1969–81 under one of two synagogues in Capernaum uncovered an earlier synagogue that they believe was the one built by this Roman centurion. The find adds to our knowledge of synagogue worship in the NT era and provides confirmation of the historicity of Luke’s gospel, even down to the detail of the anecdotal comment made by the Jewish elders about the centurion (“he himself built the synagogue for us”) in order to illustrate their assertion (“he is worthy … for he loves our people” [7:4–5]). The researchers … discovered the remains of the synagogue constructed by the Roman centurion atop a very ancient dwelling.

Just, A. A., Jr. ©1996. Luke 1:1–9:50 (p. 304). St. Louis, MO: CPH.

One cannot help but notice also that Jesus never says a word about healing the slave. It merely becomes fact. It is Jesus’ will that the man be saved and so he was. We can only assume that along with the slave being healed of his illness the entire household was saved for eternity. Are we also struck by the authority of Jesus? Are we submitted to the will and way of God simply because “He says so?” This centurion was certain that Jesus had authority over the life of his slave and was thus willing to give himself over to Jesus as well. I remember telling my mother once – when I was very young – “You aren’t the boss of me!” Yeah – that wasn’t true either. Later my father gave me a lesson in what authority meant and just exactly who was the boss of me. Whether we want to submit to the authority of Jesus Christ in our life doesn’t really matter as to whether or not it’s true. His authority is true and irrevocable.

Dear Lord, when I have chosen my own authority over Yours, please bring conviction so that I can get off of that error filled path. Help me to be completely submitted to You at all times and help me to remember that under Your wing is the perfect place to be. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.